An adventure in collection, refurbishing, and reselling vintage sewing machines and what is learned along the way.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Tomorrow Is Another Day

Scarlett O'Hara was right, tomorrow is another day so when I sold the Bernette Funlock serger I knew there would be another serger but didn't think it would be so soon. Of course, I was looking for one and liked the ad and condition of a Euro Pro 534DX so I went to take a look. This serger was bought with the best of intentions because his mother loved to sew. A good idea with all things new is to take lessons but his mama didn't speak any English so his wife would have had to go along for all of the lessons and that just didn't work out. How many years the serger sat I do not know so when we turned it on there was no movement. The handwheel was solidly stuck and we suspected it just wasn't on the correct settings and this was a safety feature. No manual. After a few trips back and forth to the computer to check on ideas for getting it unstuck, he finally gave it a real muscle turn and there was movement, slow movement, and finally it would turn.

Euro Pro 534 DX

That was great so I put some fabric under it to see how it would move and it didn't. The feed dogs looked like they moved but only had forward and backward movement and they need to move in a somewhat circular mode. We finally had everything unassembled and I could see where I thought it should move as per other machines but it was stuck fast. I have now been in their home for two hours so I finally said I would take it for about half of the asking price and he jumped at it. I got it home and took the old hairblower to it but no movement. I went to bed a little hopeful but mostly disappointed.

The next day I went to yoga and as my usual routine I stopped at the Goodwill on my way home. There it was, a Bernette 234 serger:

Bernette 234 serger

No power cord was around but another woman and I found the thread rack and how to attach it. It was a no-brainer since the price was a ridiculous $10 so it went home with me. I was pretty sure I had another cord but it might have to be shared until I could buy one of its own but at least I could find out if it even worked. As luck would have it (wasn't the price lucky enough?) I not only had the power cord and foot control but it was one that was an extra, taken from a machine I no longer owned. I worked on her for a couple hours and finally was rewarded with this:

Bernette 234 stitch sample

I wouldn't say its stitches were perfectly balanced but it was pretty good. In fact, it was better than my Elna serger that has so many features (if you can get it to actually do them). This was a clear win-win. I found free manuals for both online and that will help, too. I think I can continue to oil and heat the Euro Pro and get it to run plus it came with a complete set of feet so it is valuable for parts yet that little Bernette is going to keep going for years to come.

Moral of the story? Sell when you have a buyer and you can always get another. Maybe two.

About Me

How my addiction to vintage sewing machines has grown from refurbishing, to sales, to a repair business. Come along with me as I have learned by doing, making mistakes along the way, taking and teaching classes, all for the love and sense of accomplishment in keeping these ol' gals still running. I think it might be what keeps this ol' gal running, too.